My Expressions

Book Review

The Village by the Sea

By-Anita Desai

‘The Village by the Sea’ is the story of a poor family of six. It is set in the village Thul which is roughly 14 miles away from Mumbai (then called Bombay)

The story describes the pros and cons of the lifestyle of fishermen living near sea. It very well depicts how their lives depend on fishing and palm trees and how the monsoons affect them.

It also balances multiple stories at the same time. It relates to the life of poor as well as the lives of the rich. It explains life in a village as well as life in a city.

The story, as I said earlier, is based on the life of a poor family. The father is a drunk and does nothing for the family. The mother is struck with anaemia and lies in bed all the time. The eldest children, Lila(13 years) and Hari  (12 years), have stopped going to school  so as to take care of their family. Their younger sisters, Bela and Kamal, are still very young.

The story is very slow. Hari goes to Bombay in search of a job and Lila is left all alone to cope up with the pace of life.

The story, however, ends on a positive note. All the characters and objects, when analysed deeply, symbolise some or the other truth of life.

This is Anita Desai’s first novel for children written in 1982.It had received the ‘Guardian Children Fiction Award’ in the same year. It has also been rated between  3/5 to 4/5.

I like reading novels related to children so that I can inculcate good values and strength in them to face challenges in life.